New World monkey

New World monkey

Any of some 100 species of monkeys (the platyrrhine [“flat-nosed”] monkeys) that inhabit tropical Central and South America. Platyrrhines have a broad nose, with a wide septum separating the outwardly directed nostrils, and relatively unopposable thumbs. Most species have a long tail, which in a few species is prehensile. They are divided by zoologists into five families: the marmosets and tamarins; the titis, sakis, and uakaris; the spider monkeys and woolly monkeys; the capuchin monkeys and squirrel monkeys; and the durukulis. See also Old World monkey.